Medication adherence, including patient adherence to medication regimens is an important aspect of any system providing medical services. Specifically, lack of medical adherence has a negative effect on outcomes and increases costs associated with providing medical services. For example, research shows that:                1. Approximately 25% of patients prescribed medications for a new illness fail to fill their initial prescription;        2. Approximately half of patients taking maintenance medications for a chronic disease stop taking their medications within the first year; and,        3. The estimated cost of unnecessary medical treatment attributable to medication non-adherence is $290 B annually.        
It is known to use home-based medication dispensers. For example, the patient or a designated caregiver is required to periodically pre-load the appropriate pills into provided cups, according to each pill's dosage regimen. The pre-loaded cups are then placed into the dispenser. The dispenser then releases each cup's contents at a designated time. However, home-based medication dispensers do not accommodate time periods during which a patient is away from the dispenser and medication dosages are needed. The dispenser may be able to dispense the medications en masse for the time period; however, the user is forced to sort the pills as needed for various dosages at various times. Further, the home-based medication dispensers have no means of determining compliance with a medication regimen during the time period.